Kirtland cult murders: Remembering the Avery family

Editor’s note: 19 Investigates attempted to reach members of the Avery family. We did not hear back. This article is built from court records, archival news footage, community memorial accounts, and the recollections of people who knew the family — including former cult members interviewed for the documentary “Deadly Devotion: The Kirtland Cult Murders,” streaming on 19News+ this Saturday at 8 p.m.

Kirtland, Ohio -- Dennis and Cheryl Avery were people of faith. They raised their three daughters — Trina, Rebecca, and Karen — in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a faith that had been part of their family long before it led them to a small town in northeast Ohio.

In the spring of 1989, Jeffrey Lundgren murdered all five of them in a barn on Euclid Chardon Road, after his teachings took a radical turn away from the church.

They are remembered here as more than victims. We tried to learn who they were before Jeffrey Lundgren decided their lives were his to take.

Dennis Avery was a husband, a father of three, and a man of faith. He was born in Los Angeles and later moved to Missouri. He worked as a computer programmer for a bank and as a security guard. By 1988, he had left that job as his family’s involvement with Lundgren’s group deepened. He gave the group everything he had: his time, his resources, his trust. Those who were there remember Dennis as a man who kept trying to belong, even as Lundgren and his inner circle pushed the Avery family further to the side.

“It was heart-rending to watch what looked like they were being pushed away,” former cult member Ron Luff told 19 Investigates. “They didn’t appear in all the classes. They weren’t there at a number of classes.”

Dennis Avery kept showing up, and he kept believing.

Cheryl Avery, 46

Cheryl Avery was born in Yakima, Washington and later moved to Missouri. She married Dennis in 1970 in Independence, Missouri. They were described by a friend in an old newspaper article as “sweet, family-oriented people.” She taught preschool and Sunday school.

Cheryl’s brother Donald Bailey was there when the state of Ohio executed Jeffrey Lundgren nearly 20 years ago. He told 19 News he wanted Lundgren to see him there as he took his last breath. Bailey said Lundgren never expressed any remorse to his family.

Trina Avery, 15

Trina Avery was a ninth grader at Madison Local Schools in Lake County, Ohio.

She was 15 years old.

Rebecca Avery, 13

Rebecca Avery was a seventh grader at Madison Local Schools.

She was 13 years old.

Karen Avery, 7

Karen Avery was a first grader at Madison Local Schools.

She was 7 years old.

A community grieved

When the bodies of the Avery family were discovered in January 1990, the community of Kirtland and northeast Ohio came together to grieve and to remember. Vigils were held and memorials were organized. People who had known the Averys sat alongside people who had only just learned their names, united by the same grief and the same bewilderment.

“Friends of the Dennis Avery family shed tears,” a 19 News reporter said in her story in January 1990. “People who didn’t know them personally only sat in silence and wondered how it could happen here.”

At one memorial service, a church leader offered words of comfort to those gathered:

“On this night, we gather because this question of why can lead us to feel guilty and ashamed and angry and afraid — and we need to say and hear the comforting words of our faith.”

The RLDS church was clear and immediate in its response to Jeffrey Lundgren.

“He in no way represents what this church represents,” a church leader said.

Their final resting place

The Avery family’s final resting place is back in their adopted hometown of Independence, Missouri. Dennis, Cheryl, Trina, Rebecca and Karen are remembered by their loved ones, who lost them too soon.

19 Investigates attempted to reach members of the Avery family. We did not hear back. If you are a member of the Avery family or knew them personally and would like to share your memories, please contact Sara Goldenberg at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..